ABSTRACT
In Minnesota, two advocacy organizations have played a central role in the movement: the Association of Non-smokers-Minnesota (ANSR—the initials are from the original name of the organization, Association for Non-smokers Rights), and the Minnesota Coalition for a Smoke-Free Society 2000. In addition to being the twin hubs of the movement in Minnesota, both groups have garnered national attention and recognition. ANSR was the first single-issue tobacco control organization in Minnesota, and one of the first such groups in the United States. NSR members linked up with Phyllis Kahn, a Democratic-Farmer-Labour representative from Minneapolis who trained as a biophysicist at Yale and had been elected to the Minnesota House in 1972. The relationship between ANSR and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was not good at the outset. Despite the bad start, ANSR's relationship with MDH improved over time. ANSR, along with other groups, worked with MDH to develop the Minnesota Plan for Non-smoking and Health, which was published in 1984.
